diff --git a/agent/consul/prepared_query/template.go b/agent/consul/prepared_query/template.go
index f758de2ce6..5b7b48421f 100644
--- a/agent/consul/prepared_query/template.go
+++ b/agent/consul/prepared_query/template.go
@@ -29,6 +29,10 @@ type CompiledTemplate struct {
 
 	// re is the compiled regexp, if they supplied one (this can be nil).
 	re *regexp.Regexp
+
+	// removeEmptyTags will cause the service tags to be stripped of any
+	// empty strings after interpolation.
+	removeEmptyTags bool
 }
 
 // Compile validates a prepared query template and returns an opaque compiled
@@ -41,7 +45,8 @@ func Compile(query *structs.PreparedQuery) (*CompiledTemplate, error) {
 
 	// Start compile.
 	ct := &CompiledTemplate{
-		trees: make(map[string]ast.Node),
+		trees:           make(map[string]ast.Node),
+		removeEmptyTags: query.Template.RemoveEmptyTags,
 	}
 
 	// Make a copy of the query to use as the basis for rendering later.
@@ -181,5 +186,15 @@ func (ct *CompiledTemplate) Render(name string) (*structs.PreparedQuery, error)
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
+	if ct.removeEmptyTags {
+		tags := make([]string, 0, len(query.Service.Tags))
+		for _, tag := range query.Service.Tags {
+			if tag != "" {
+				tags = append(tags, tag)
+			}
+		}
+		query.Service.Tags = tags
+	}
+
 	return query, nil
 }
diff --git a/agent/consul/prepared_query/template_test.go b/agent/consul/prepared_query/template_test.go
index 32d54117bb..5fe7fb7a75 100644
--- a/agent/consul/prepared_query/template_test.go
+++ b/agent/consul/prepared_query/template_test.go
@@ -15,8 +15,9 @@ var (
 	bigBench = &structs.PreparedQuery{
 		Name: "hello",
 		Template: structs.QueryTemplateOptions{
-			Type:   structs.QueryTemplateTypeNamePrefixMatch,
-			Regexp: "^hello-(.*)-(.*)$",
+			Type:            structs.QueryTemplateTypeNamePrefixMatch,
+			Regexp:          "^hello-(.*)-(.*)$",
+			RemoveEmptyTags: true,
 		},
 		Service: structs.ServiceQuery{
 			Service: "${name.full}",
@@ -296,4 +297,84 @@ func TestTemplate_Render(t *testing.T) {
 			t.Fatalf("bad: %#v", actual)
 		}
 	}
+
+	// Try all the variables and functions, removing empty tags.
+	query = &structs.PreparedQuery{
+		Name: "hello-",
+		Template: structs.QueryTemplateOptions{
+			Type:            structs.QueryTemplateTypeNamePrefixMatch,
+			Regexp:          "^(.*?)-(.*?)-(.*)$",
+			RemoveEmptyTags: true,
+		},
+		Service: structs.ServiceQuery{
+			Service: "${name.prefix} xxx ${name.full} xxx ${name.suffix}",
+			Tags: []string{
+				"${match(-1)}",
+				"${match(0)}",
+				"${match(1)}",
+				"${match(2)}",
+				"${match(3)}",
+				"${match(4)}",
+				"${40 + 2}",
+			},
+		},
+	}
+	ct, err = Compile(query)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	// Run a case that matches the regexp, removing empty tags.
+	{
+		actual, err := ct.Render("hello-foo-bar-none")
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("err: %v", err)
+		}
+		expected := &structs.PreparedQuery{
+			Name: "hello-",
+			Template: structs.QueryTemplateOptions{
+				Type:            structs.QueryTemplateTypeNamePrefixMatch,
+				Regexp:          "^(.*?)-(.*?)-(.*)$",
+				RemoveEmptyTags: true,
+			},
+			Service: structs.ServiceQuery{
+				Service: "hello- xxx hello-foo-bar-none xxx foo-bar-none",
+				Tags: []string{
+					"hello-foo-bar-none",
+					"hello",
+					"foo",
+					"bar-none",
+					"42",
+				},
+			},
+		}
+		if !reflect.DeepEqual(actual, expected) {
+			t.Fatalf("bad:\n%#v\nexpected:\n%#v\n", actual, expected)
+		}
+	}
+
+	// Run a case that doesn't match the regexp, removing empty tags.
+	{
+		actual, err := ct.Render("hello-nope")
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("err: %v", err)
+		}
+		expected := &structs.PreparedQuery{
+			Name: "hello-",
+			Template: structs.QueryTemplateOptions{
+				Type:            structs.QueryTemplateTypeNamePrefixMatch,
+				Regexp:          "^(.*?)-(.*?)-(.*)$",
+				RemoveEmptyTags: true,
+			},
+			Service: structs.ServiceQuery{
+				Service: "hello- xxx hello-nope xxx nope",
+				Tags: []string{
+					"42",
+				},
+			},
+		}
+		if !reflect.DeepEqual(actual, expected) {
+			t.Fatalf("bad: %#v", actual)
+		}
+	}
 }
diff --git a/agent/consul/structs/prepared_query.go b/agent/consul/structs/prepared_query.go
index af535f010b..7967b85397 100644
--- a/agent/consul/structs/prepared_query.go
+++ b/agent/consul/structs/prepared_query.go
@@ -68,6 +68,9 @@ type QueryTemplateOptions struct {
 	// used to extract parts of the name and choose a service name, set
 	// tags, etc.
 	Regexp string
+
+	// RemoveEmptyTags, if true, removes empty tags from matched tag list
+	RemoveEmptyTags bool
 }
 
 // PreparedQuery defines a complete prepared query, and is the structure we
diff --git a/website/source/api/query.html.md b/website/source/api/query.html.md
index 3e476f130c..5f419a8925 100644
--- a/website/source/api/query.html.md
+++ b/website/source/api/query.html.md
@@ -32,7 +32,8 @@ Here is an example prepared query template:
 {
   "Template": {
     "Type": "name_prefix_match",
-    "Regexp": "^geo-db-(.*?)-([^\\-]+?)$"
+    "Regexp": "^geo-db-(.*?)-([^\\-]+?)$",
+    "RemoveEmptyTags": false
   }
 }
 ```
@@ -55,6 +56,12 @@ static query. It has two fields:
   [RE2](https://github.com/google/re2/wiki/Syntax) reference for syntax of this
   regular expression.
 
+- `RemoveEmptyTags` is optional, and if set to true, will cause the `Tags` list
+  inside the `Service` structure to be stripped of any empty strings. This defaults
+  to false, meaning that empty strings will remain in the list. This is useful
+  when interpolating into tags in a way where the tag is optional, and where
+  searching for an empty tag would yield no results from the query.
+
 All other fields of the query have the same meanings as for a static query,
 except that several interpolation variables are available to dynamically
 populate the query before it is executed. All of the string fields inside the